From Way Back When
by Lady Merlin
Summary: Houses' childhood friends in the hospital, sick. House is happy shock but her condition suddenly worsens. To make matters worse, Houses' liver fails. Can he fix her, while dealing with his own problems? In character, plotted. No pairing.
1. Chapter 1

House had just got himself a brilliant new game. It looked beautifully old-school with pixilated green and black, because there was nothing like the addictiveness of small screen hand held games. He had his feet up, game boy in one hand and cup of steaming hot unsweetened coffee. Perfect.

The door slammed open. He could have moaned. He looked up to Cuddy, breathing flames over him. She shoved a file in his face. "Case. Now. Go." It was almost like she was too angry to speak. The idea amused him.

"Yes, mom." He gave his standard answer. She stood there, hands on her hips, tapping one foot.

He looked at her, as if surprised to see her still there. "Well?" she asked.

He eyed the door. She rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in the air. He admired her fine rear as she stormed away. He had his reasons for wanting her to leave. He winced as he tried to move, paused and popped two vicodin. He tried again and got his feet to the ground and pushed himself up, for a split second, lurching too far. He regained his balance as quickly as he could, and gripped his cane, as if hoping to transfer some of the pain. His knuckles were white.

He used his cane to hit the door of the Ducklings' room, and walked out without waiting. They hurried and caught up.

"45 year old Asian female. Dizziness, Nausea, weakness in legs, headaches, stomachaches, fevers through the roof."

"Flu," said Foreman promptly.

House looked at him, with a 'well, duh' kind of look. "It should be flu, but it's not. She's had it for 7 months now, and no one can get it to go away."

"Well, we haven't developed a cure for the common cold, you know?" Chase commented.

"If I didn't know that, would I be paying you to go figure out what it is?" House asked. "Ideas. Come on."

House fired a long list of tests to be carried out, and glared at them.

The ducklings rushed away. He pulled out his bottle of vicodin and popped another two. His pill level was getting dangerously low. He sat down heavily, his thigh cramping painfully. "House!" came a voice. It was Wilson. He'd probably seen the pill-popping episode. _Great. _But Wilson didn't seem to be interested in scolding him. "Hey, House. Are you okay?"

There was genuine concern on his face as he scrutinized House. House nodded. "Yeah." but even his voice was different. This pain was excruciating, hitting 13 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Wilson seemed to know this. "Oh dear." He sighed. "Come on House. Let's get you some morphine."

House shook his head, catching Wilson by surprise. "I have a patient," and his voice was still strained.

Wilson gripped his shoulder and nodded. "Okay. But if you need me, don't bother paging. Just call." He knew House would call once his patient had been dealt with. He was only human. He couldn't live with that kind of pain for long. He hoped it got better. It was one of Wilson's nightmares that Houses' pain increased without stop, and one day his best friend would die in agony. He shook himself out of it. House wasn't going to die of pain—he was too strong. Too stubborn. He'd annoy Hades himself, until he gave up.

He squeezed Houses' shoulder and walked off. House scowled. He didn't find it fair that even though he'd perfected the art of schooling his expressions, one person still managed to read him like an open book.

He pushed himself up. He supposed he'd better go and check on his ducklings.

He slammed into the lab, ignoring the protesting guard. He gave him a look, flashed his card and walked in anyway. Wilson rolled his eyes. Hard. He went to the guard and explained that House was bitchier when he was in pain. He decided it would be better to not confront his friend when he was in this kind of mood.

"Okay, children. What'd the situation?" he asked.

"Red Blood Cell count dangerously low. White cell count pretty normal. It's not an infection. Her lungs seem to be in a strange condition. They're not inflating properly." Forman recited the basics.

"Smoker?" Chase asked.

Foreman shook his head. "Checked oxygen levels in blood, they're okay, relatively." Cameron looked like she was about to clarify. Foreman cut her off. "Ration of oxygen to Haemoglobin is fine, but Haemoglobin levels are low, and her body's not getting enough oxygen."

Suddenly all their pagers went off. They pulled them out, and Foreman and Chase ran off simultaneously. Cameron stayed for a fraction of a second to tell House that their patient had seized.

He stood there, watching them run off. A pang shook his heart, but he ignored it. He pulled out his Vicodin bottle and popped another two. He peered inside and grimaced. Only two left. He'd have to go to Wilson for a refill.

He sat down and pulled the patients' file. Something was really strange about this case, apart from the fact that all the symptoms were normal. All of them were perfectly okay, and explainable. But not all together. Not in the same person. (A/N: I know it's probably not the most interesting of cases, but it's all logically derived from stuff I've learned in chemistry. It should make sense, but sorry I can't come up with weird stuff like David Shore and co.)

The first page had a passport sized picture of his patient, and her name.

Alianna Munroe

He froze. _Impossible. _

Well? What says the reader? Please let me know, okay?

Love,

Lady Merlin


	2. Chapter 2

Okay! Here's chappie 2! R&R!

House got up as quickly as he could and hobbled towards the patients' room. It felt like one of the longest journeys of his life. The pain was impossible. He probably would have been happier sawing his leg off without anesthesia. Except for the fact he wouldn't have been. His limp was more pronounced. The cane didn't help much.

Wilson saw his pain from a mile away.

He was there, in front of House within seconds. "Hey."

House stopped, giving him an annoyed look.

"You need morphine."

House shook his head. His jaw clenched. Wilson looked startled. "I'm not angry," House said, and a harsh hiss. "Just get out of my damn way. I need to get somewhere." Wilson realised that House was silent because of the pain. He grabbed Houses' arm and let him put his weight on him.

House hissed, despite his pain, with a smirk, "People are going to get ideas."

"Let them," was all Wilson said. He knew all the tricks in the book when it came to House diverting attention from himself. "Where d'ya need to get to?"

"Patient." Wilson nodded tersely. House was a solid three inches taller than him. Even though House had lost an ungodly amount of weight after the infarction, it was still tough lugging around a 6ft2in tall guy.

House accepted his help, and Wilson thanked god for it. He didn't know if he could stand seeing House in so much pain, all on his own.

They reached the patients' room, and House and Wilson walked in, House slamming the door shut behind him. His three ducklings and a man beside the bed seemed startled. "Who're you?" the man asked, rudely, as if he was on the verge of calling security.

"I'm the doctor in charge. Dr. House. Please leave the room." His duckling filed out without a word, followed by Wilson who bade goodbye with a squeeze on his shoulder. The man looked adamant. House fixed an icy gaze on him, and he seemed to reconsider. House kept staring and the man broke under the pressure of Houses' eyes.

He kind of wobbled out, where he loudly and plaintively asked someone, presumably Wilson, if the man inside was dangerous. Wilson replied that the man inside, though slightly insane, was a medical genius. That he did things like this when he figured stuff out.

House tuned them out.

He hobbled over to the figure lying in the bed and creaked into a chair.

"Allie. Allie, wake up." He let a hand rest on her wrist.

He knew she was conscious. Just asleep. Her heart-and-brain monitor was beeping constantly, in the rhythm that all doctors knew as _safe_.

"Allie," he whispered.

Her eyes fluttered open. She opened her mouth and tried to speak, but couldn't. House passed her a cup of water, which she accepted and drank. She tried again. "Who're you?"

"Greg. Remember me?"

Well? Opinions matter! R&R!

Love,

Lady Merlin


	3. Chapter 3

Hey! Here's chappie three. Hope ya'll are liking it so far. I can't wait to see where I go with this. (Yes, I know I sound insane. Probably am. :D)

R&R, kay?

The woman's face remained blank for a second. Suddenly she blinked. "Greg? Greg _House?_" she asked, her voice disbelieving.

He nodded, his nose crinkling as if he smelled something interesting. Or maybe he was smiling.

"No way!" she said, her voice peaking in excitement. Her face had lit up like a Christmas tree and she was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

The glass door slammed open as the guy, presumably the husband/boyfriend, came storming in. "What are you doing to Alianna? How dare you disturb—" He was cut off as he noticed the look on her face.

"Jack, you won't believe it! Jack, it's Greg! Greg House! Remember? From high school?" she laughed out in pure delight, and a blissful grin melted across Houses' face.

His ducklings stared jaw-dropped, and Wilson dropped his coffee. They had never seen House _really_ smile. Not like this.

"Aw, Greg! I've read so _many_ of your articles!" she gushed.

"You interested in medicine?" He asked, seemingly surprised.

"No, just keeping in touch with what you're doing," she replied, smiling.

He shook his head and mock sighed. "I always knew you'd develop stalkerish tendencies."

She laughed, and he smiled. 'Jack' didn't seem too happy about this turn of events. Wilson didn't know what to think.

Suddenly, Alianna's eyes rolled back into her head and her monitor flat-lined. Wilson didn't hesitate. He poked his head out the door and roared, "Code Red! Code Red!" before going back in and helping House who was getting ready to charge her.

Well? Meant to be short and annoying. Main purpose of this chappie was to introduce who Alianna is. Hope I don't make her a Sue, but let's see. R&R, kay?

Love,

Lady Merlin.


	4. Chapter 4

Here's the next one. R&R!!!

"Clear," House said, decisively, and Wilson flipped the switch, releasing a whopping amount of electricity into her chest.

The monitor was still flat-lining.

"Up the amps!" House ordered, and Wilson did it. "Clear."

The paddles sent another shock towards Alianna's heart.

_Thirty seconds…_

Still flat-lining…

"Clear," House ordered again.

"You're killing her!" roared the man, Jack, attempting to lunge at House. Foreman and Chase caught him and hauled him outside, as Cameron tried to soothe him.

"Up the amps again!" Wilson did it, but now he wasn't sure.

_One minute…_

"Clear!" and finally, her heart jumped to life, beeping steadily. But the battle wasn't over. It had just begun.

House pulled out a torch from Wilson's pocket, and shone it into her eyes. He looked at Wilson with grimness on his face. "She's in a coma."

Wilson's hope flattened, like a balloon after a pinprick.

She'd been medically _dead_ for a solid minute. That was more than enough time to cause brain damage, and they wouldn't know until she woke up. To add to that, her oxygen levels were low, and so were her RBC levels. All the more chances of lasting brain damage. But there was nothing that could be done.

The worst part was the look on Houses' face.

Suddenly, the door slammed open again, as a furious Cuddy stalked in. House ignored her, without any comment, and walked out. Cuddy glared, but seemed to realise that something was wrong. After House was out of ear-shot, she asked Wilson, "What happened?"

Wilson hated it, but he had to shrug. And everyone knew, if Wilson didn't know, no one knew. "He seemed to know her. Very well, as a matter of face. From high school." Cuddy looked surprised.

"In a good way?"

"He smiled. Happily."

Cuddy didn't know what to say.

R&R! How is it?

Love,

Lady Merlin


	5. Chapter 5

Here's chappie 5. R&R folks!

House ignored the queer looks coming from his ducklings. He started writing on the board.

2 Seizures in 2 hours

Double flat-lining for 1 minute

Strange sweet smell

Dizziness

Nausea

Weak legs

Headaches

Stomachaches

High fevers

It was a long list of symptoms, which was normally a good thing. But this list added up to nothing. It didn't make sense.

There was a knock on the door. It was Jack. He nodded at his ducklings, who took it as a signal to continue brainstorming.

He stepped out and closed the door behind him.

"House," the man said, grudgingly respectful.

"Raterner," House replies, politely.

There was a silence as they sized each other up.

"Look, House, I know there's a lot of blood been spilt, but let it be water under the bridge. I love her, you love her. Please just fix her." Jack looked at him, almost begging.

House didn't even protest his humanity, that he would never leave a dying woman to just die. He just nodded.

They didn't know Wilson had been listening.

_Love?_ Wilson breathed, unable to believe it. _Impossible, _he thought. _House, in love? No way. Right?_

Well? Opinions? R&R!!!

Love,

Lady Merlin


End file.
